Device for teaching, particularly for the teaching of drawing



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DEVICE FOR TEACHING, PARTICULARLY FOR THE TEACHING OF DRAWING Filed Junea, 1960 INVENTOR. CHARLES EM/LE KAESTLE g/ wwwt/vfM ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,045,363 DEVICE FOR TEACHING, PARTICULARLY FOR THETEACHING 0F DRAWING Charles Emile Kaestl, Bloc 9(c) Ave. du GeneralMangin, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France Filed June 8, 1960, Ser. No.34,709 Claims priority, application France June 9, 1959 Claims. (Cl.35-26) Teachers often encounter considerable difficulties in teachingtheir pupils the elements of drawing, and more particularly in teachingthem how to reproduce the exact proportions of objects, even of simpleshape, which the pupils are to draw. The difficulty is still greaterwhen it is attempted to teach the pupils the laws of perspective, andwhen they are asked to reproduce the apparent distortions due toperspective.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device whichimmediately materializes for the pupils eyes the proportions of objectsof simple or complex shape, which the pupils are to reproduce bydrawing.

Another object of the invention is a device enabling the pupils toevaluate immediately the value of the apparent distortion of objects,due to perspective, and consequently to reproduce rapidly and easilysaid distortions. In a broader aspect an object of the present inventionis to provide a simple device of rugged construction, easy tomanufacture, adapted to support an object which is to be drawn, whileallowing the whole object to be viewed, said device further allowing theposition of said object to be varied by a simple manipulation, so thatthe apparent distortions of the object, due to the perspective, whensaid object is placed at horizon level, or above said horizon level, orbelow the latter may be analyzed. These objects, along with otherobjects which will be apparent from the present specification, areachieved by a device according to the present invention, which comprisesessentially a column, a base supporting said column in a verticalposition, an object-bearer which is transparent at least in its centralportion, and means for releasably attaching said object-bearer atvariable heights.

In one embodiment of the invention said object-bearer is constituted bya frame comprising at least three sides, said frame being arranged tobear a grid on which the object to be drawn is placed, while one of saidsides of the frame is rigidly fixed to a sleeve slidably mounted on saidcolumn.

In an improved embodiment of the invention, said frame comprises asecond grid rigidly attached thereto in a vertical position, the objectto be drawn being placed behind said second grid.

It will be understood that in this embodiment the object is seenvertically through a regular grid, which allows the important points ofthe object, or model, to be accurately located and consequently allowsthis model to be closely reproduced by the well-known method ofsquaring.

In still another embodiment of the invention, the device may furthercomprise means for suspending the objects, or models, whenever thelatter are suited for this method of supporting. Said means preferablyare constituted by a rod having a hook and being rigid with a sleeveslidably mounted on said column, said sleeve comprising means toreleasably lock a sleeve to the column at any required height.

It will be well understood that it lies within the scope of the presentinvention to combine the aforementioned means for suspending the objectsto be drawn with the object-bearer comprising a vertical grid, thelatter then allowing the dimensions and perspective distortions of3,045,363 Patented July 24, 1962 ice the object suspended at the hook tobe determined and located, as indicated hereinabove.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, reference may be made to the accompanying drawingswhich show a number of advantageous embodiments of the invention givenby way of example only and not to be considered as limiting the scope ofthe invention.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the object-bearershown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows still another embodiment of said objectbearer, and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view, showing the utilisation of theobject-bearer according to FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, the device according to the embodiments showntherein comprises a support constituted by a sleeve 1 and four legsconstituted each by a curved tube including one portion 2 substantiallyperpendicular with respect to the axis of sleeve 1, and one curved endportion 3, the length of which preferably is shorter, said curvedportion 3 being adapted to repose on a supporting surface. Thehorizontal portions 2 of said legs are rigidly attached to sleeve 1,e.g. by welding.

A vertical column 4 is slidably mounted in sleeve 1 and may be locked inthe desired position by any convenient means, for instance by set screw5. Due to this arrangement column 4 may be separated from the supportingleg assembly, which facilitates the transport .or the storing of thedevice. An object-bearer is slidably mounted on column 4; saidobject-bearer is rigidly attached to a sleeve 6 coaxially and slidablymounted on the column, with a loose fit. Sleeve 6 may be locked in anydesired position on the column, by any convenient means such as setscrew 7.

In this embodiment, the object-bearer is constituted by a framecomprising a U-shaped iron rod of circular section which forms a centralportion 8 rigidly connected with sleeve 6, and lateral legs 9 and 10.Legs 9 and 10 may be provided with grooves allowing a plate of glass orother transparent material, such as plastic material, to be insertedbetween said legs, said plate being pro vided with a grid constituted bya pattern of squares placed upon said plate.

This grid may also be constituted, as shown in FIG. 1, by a plurality ofthreads or wires 11, 12, etc. attached to lateral legs 9 and 10, and bythreads or wires 13, 14 perpendicular to threads 11, 12 and attached tothe central portion 8 and to the outer thread or wire 12.

It will be understood that an object placed on the above mentioned gridis visible entirely, whichever its position with respect to the horizonmay be, and that said grid allows to a certain degree to evaluate theperspective distortion of the bottom of such object.

The above described device may be completed by adding a rod 15 one ofthe ends of which is formed with a hook 16, said rod 15 being rigidlyattached to a sleeve 17 similar to sleeve 6. Hook 16 may be used tosuspend objects such as a pail or similar objects adapted to besuspended. The object, or model, to be drawn may easily be fixed at thedesired height, by sliding sleeves 6 or 17, respectively, along column4.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1,as far as the object-bearer is concerned, however the free ends oflateral legs 9 and 10 are rigidly connected each to a vertical rod 18,19' supporting a grid similar to the grid described hereinabove withreference to FIG. 1.

It will be easily understood that this grid which is not subject toperspective distortion to any degree appreciable by the pupils who areplaced substantially in front of the grid, will enable said pupils notonly to evaluate the dimensions of the object to be drawn, but also theapparent distortions due to perspective, as indicated in FIG. 4.

The object to be drawn, as shown in FIGURE 4, is a flower pot, and thetransparent vertical gr-id allows the width of the upper end of saidflower pot to be immediately evaluated, said width extending over foursquares of the grid; similarly the height of the pot, as well as itswidth at the lower end, which corresponds to two squares of the grid,may easily be evaluated. Furthermore said grid also enables a pupil tonotice that, due to perspective, the median point of the upper end ofthe pot is located at the point designated by numeral 21, which isseparated from point 22 defining the lateral ends of the upper edge, bya distance corresponding to of the side of a square. The device thusprovides a materialization of the apparent distortion due toperspective.

In the embodiment according to FIGURE 2 the apparent distortion due toperspective of the vertical grid is perceivable to all the pupils placedwithin an angle of about 25 to 30 having its apex located on the column.Pupils who are obliged to be placed outside of said angle will not beable to take full advantage of the device, due to perspective distortionof the grid. Under these conditions, it is advantageous to replace theplane vertical grid surface defined by the vertical rods 18, 19, by agrid having the shape of a cylinder segment, as shown in FIG- URE 3. Inthis embodiment of the invention the legs 9, of the horizontalobject-bearer are constituted by a circle 74 supported and delimited bytwo sections 25, 26 of the generatrix of the corresponding cylinder.

It will be easily understood that under these conditions the pupils maybe placed around the object, or model, in a circle extending over about180, each pupil viewing said object through a grid portion which issubstantially free of perspective distortion, as said grid portion maybe considered as defining substantially a plane perpendicular to theviewing direction of each pupil. In order to achieve this result, theradius of the cylinder must of course be sufliciently great, e.g. fourto five times the maximum horizontal dimension of the object to bedrawn.

It will be understood that in the embodiment shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 anobject suspended at book 16 may be viewed through the vertical grid;such suspended object may also be placed upon the horizontal grid, so asto achieve any desired position in which said object is required to bedrawn.

What I claim is:

1. In a grid device for supporting an object and for aiding in thedrawing of said object, the combination, with a substantially verticalcolumn, of a substantially horizontal frame, a sleeve slidably mountedon said column and rigidly attached to the edge portion of said framewhere by said frame can be moved only vertically, said frame beingprovided with two series of wires, the wires of each series beingsubstantially parallel with respect to each other and perpendicular tothe wires of the other series to define a first open grid, a secondframe substantially perpendicular to said horizontal frame and rigidlyconnected to the edge portion of said horizontal frame, said secondframe being also provided with two series of wires, the wires of one ofsaid series being substantially parallel with respect to each other andperpendicular with respect to the wires of the other series to define asecond open grid, whereby an object supported upon the first grid can beviewed through said first and second grids at the time time.

2. In a grid device for supporting an object for the pur' pose of aidingin the drawing of said object, the combination, with a substantiallyvertical column, of a horizontal substantially U-shaped frame, a sleeveslidably mounted on said column and rigidly attached to the centralportion of said U-shaped frame whereby said frame can be moved onlyvertically, the latter being provided with two series of wires, thewires of each series being substantially parallel with respect to eachother and perpendicular to the wires of the other series to define afirst open grid, two rods rigidly connected each to the free end of oneof the substantially parallel legs of said U-shaped frame, one series ofsubstantially parallel wires extending between said two rods, andanother series of wires extending between the two outermost wires ofsaid series of parallel wires to define a-second open grid, whereby anobject supported upon the first grid can be viewed through said firstand second grids at the same time.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a rod rigidlyconnected to a sleeve slidably mounted on said column and provided withlocking means, whereby an object suspended from said rod can be viewedthrough said first grid.

4. In a device for the teaching of drawing, the combination of asubstantially vertical column with a substantially circular framerigidly attached to a sleeve slidably mounted on said column whereinsaid frame can be moved only vertically, and a transparent gridstructure constituted by a cylinder segment, said structure beingrigidly connected to said frame.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said grid structure comprisesat least one first rod in the shape of an arc of a circle and spacedvertically from said frame, and two other rods rigidly attached each toan end of said first rod, said other rods being perpendicular to theplane of said first rod, said other rods being rigidly attached to saidframe and perpendicular to the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS156,209 Diehl Oct. 27, 1874 1,134,106 Clarke Apr. 6, 1915 2,263,101Perry Nov. 18, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 758,595 France July 18, 1933 542,537Great Britain Jan. 14, 1942 ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GATE 0F CORRECTIONJuly 24, 1962 UN CERTIFI Patent No. 3,045,363

Charles Emi1e Kaestl It is hereby certified that error appears in theabove numbered patent requiring correction and that the said LettersPatent should read as corrected below read same time lihe 11, for "timetime" aled this 20th day of Column 4,

Noveniber 1962.

Signed and se (SEAL) Attest:

DAVID L. LADD Commissioner of Patents ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer

